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News November 13

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Senator Sanders

Save Social Security and Medicare Leaders of the nation's labor unions and
other liberal groups plan Tuesday to press President Obama at the White House
to reject the kind of cuts in Medicare and Social Security that he has
previously offered to make. On Thursday, left-leaning lawmakers and seniors
groups plan to rally on Capitol Hill against any changes to entitlements. "We will make it
very clear we will not be supportive of cuts to Medicare and Social Security.
It would be a huge shock and disappointment if the president forgot the reality
that he just won a major victory," Sen. Bernie Sanders told The Washington Post. LINK

Hands Off Social Security Sen. Sanders says cuts to Social Security
should not be a part of any deficit reduction package used to avoid automatic
spending cuts and tax increases slated to take effect Jan. 1., The
Associated Press reported. "Poll after poll after poll that I have seen
tell me that the American people do not believe you cut Social Security,
Medicare, and Medicaid and continue to give tax breaks to millionaires and
billionaires," Sanders said on WPTZ-TV. "Social Security has not
contributed a nickel to the deficit, it is independently funded by the payroll
tax and has a $2.7 trillion surplus, so let's get Social Security off the
table," he said on WCAX-TV. LINK,
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VIDEO

No Deal Beats Bad Deal If an acceptable deal on tax
increases and spending cuts can't be reached by year's end, briefly going over
the "fiscal cliff" may be necessary, Sen. Sanders said in the Burlington Free Press. "I would prefer to
address it in the next session of Congress to get a good solution than have a
bad agreement this session," he said on WCAX-TV. Sanders would prefer to
reach agreement before Jan. 1 but "it's not like you're going over the cliff
and nothing can be done the day after," he said on ABC 22 and Fox
44. One reason Sanders thinks next year will be different is that he and
other senators hope to change the filibuster rules, an action they hope to take
on the first day of the new session, according to vtdigger.orgLINK,
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VIDEO,
VIDEO

Sanders to Boehner: ‘You Lost' House Speaker John Boehner says
nothing about tax hikes on the wealthy which is a basic position for Democrats
and independent Senator Sanders. "Mr. Boehner has got to understand they lost,"
Sanders said on NBC Radio News. "Mr. Boehner has got
to understand they lost and let the wishes of the majority of the people in
this country prevail," Sanders told Chris Jansing Monday on MSNBC. VIDEO,AUDIO

Chained CPI Retirement benefits would continue to grow over time, but
at a slower pace, by changing the formula for measuring inflation for consumer
prices. Using a so-called chained CPI, the Social Security actuary estimated
that by age 75 the benefit would be between 96 and 97 percent of current
projected benefits. By age 85, the benefit would be between 93 and 94 percent.
Translated into today's annual benefit level, that amounts to $560 lower at age
75 and nearly $1,000 lower at age 85. "Yet lawmakers should be careful about
using the word ‘cut' when speaking about future benefits," The Washington Post fact checker tsk tsked. LINK

CIA Congress should have known about the FBI investigation of David Petraeus before
he resigned as CIA director last week, Sen. Sanders said on MSNBC. But
Sanders said Petraeus would not be a distraction from negotiations over the
deficit. "I just came from a campaign in the state of Vermont, and the issue
that's on people's minds is not David Petraeus; it's the economy, it's what's
happening to the middle class, and it's how we deal with deficit reduction and
the fiscal cliff," he said in a quote picked up by The Hill.LINK, VIDEO

Amen Bill Press on Current TV on Tuesday played a statement by Sanders that
Congress main focus should be on fair ways to cut the deficit, not on the
Petraeus scandal. "I'm confident we have the American people on our side who
want deficit reduction but want it done in a way that is fair." "Amen, right?"
said Press. "Amen to Bernie," said Rep. Peter Welch. "That makes sense to me. I
think he's dead-on." VIDEO

Chairman SandersFive Senate
panels will get new leaders in the next session of Congress. Sen. Sanders is
expected to wield the Veterans' Affairs gavel. "Be nice to me, I'm moving up in
the world," Sanders joked in an interview Monday with Congressional
Quarterly. Sanders "has been a liberal champion of generous veterans'
health care and job training initiatives ..." CQ added. LINK

Sanders Landslide Sen. Sanders received 71 percent of the vote
in his reelection bid. Two years ago, Sen. Patrick Leahy received 64.3 percent.President Obama received 67.4 percent of the vote in Vermont in 2008 and 67
percent in 2012 - but in 2008 he got a lot more votes, about 20,000 more,
according to the Burlington Free Press. LINK

Socialists This is "the most
left-wing Senate in history," conservative columnist David Harsanyi wrote in The
Daily Gazette in Schenectady and Albany, N.Y. Elizabeth
Warren, Sherrod Brown, Ben Cardin "vote with socialist Bernie Sanders because ...
by European standards, that's exactly what they are."

National

CIA Scandal Widens Gen. John R. Allen, the
top American and NATO commander in Afghanistan, is under investigation for what
a senior defense official said early Tuesday was "inappropriate communication"
with Jill Kelley, the woman in Tampa, Fla., who was seen as a rival for David
H. Petraeus' attentions by Paula Broadwell, who had an extramarital affair with
Petraeus, The New York Times reported. LINK

U.S. to Top Saudis as Oil Producer The International Energy Agency has dramatically revised its oil supply
predictions for the next 20 years and now expects the U.S. to overtake Saudi
Arabia to become the world's largest oil producer by 2020, The Wall Street
Journal reported. LINK

Vermont

Gas Prices The price of gas is
continuing to go down in Vermont. The website Vermontgasprices.com reports the
price averaged $3.68 gallon on Monday, down 7 cents in a week. Nationally, the
average price per gallon was $3.46. Vermont's gas prices are still 18 cents
higher than they were a year ago, but 25 cents cheaper than a month ago, AP reported. LINK

Heat Wave The National Weather
Service says several record-high temperatures were recorded in Vermont on
Monday. It hit 70 degrees in Burlington, breaking a record high of 66 set on
Nov. 12 in 1982 and 1964. Montpelier also set a record high of 69 degrees and
St. Johnsbury set a record of 66 degrees, AP reported. LINK